| |
[Jun. 19th, 2009|08:38 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  irritated | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Ready, The Starting Line | ] |
Mostly, I like Virgin Mobile. Their ads are a little cheesy, but the rates are half-decent (though getting less so over time, admittedly) - when I went around price-matching, theirs was pretty much the best for what I wanted (especially since it meant that I didn't have the hassle of switching between carriers).
On the other hand, the ability of the customer service reps occasionally leaves something to be desired.
Back in March, when I was switching from prepaid to a plan, I went to the Virgin stall at Burwood to ask to fill out the forms. The guy couldn't find them, and went rifling through every drawer trying to locate them. Eventually his higher-up turned up and borrowed a form from some other mobile shop down the hall. Then forgot that I was entitled to $10 extra credit because I wasn't getting an included phone.
While I was setting up the switch, I also filled out a direct debit form. Of course, I'd just topped up my prepaid credit, so it was going to use that up until I ran out.
Cut to today. (Well, yesterday.) The prepaid credit's finally run out, so I actually owe money this time. Problems?
1) The bill was for two months, when as far as I know, I was going to be billed monthly.
2) No direct debit occurred.
So, I call up. (Admittedly, at 10:45 when the line closes at 11; probably not the wisest move.) The guy can answer #1 (if there's less than $10 owing, they rollover the bill to save paper), but swears blind that I have to contact the bank to answer #2.
Thus, this morning I call the bank. Once I get through the succession of automated answering machines, I finally reach a real person. She says that there hasn't even been an attempt to debit from the account. Yay.
So, I call Virgin up again. I spent quite some time on hold, and again, finally got through to a real person. She tells me that the money, instead of being debited on the day of the bill, is debited on the due date. Which means that if it isn't, I'm screwed. But oh, well, I guess there isn't much she could do about it. Before I hung up, I asked her to flame the previous guy for not simply telling me that and instead sending me on a pointless run-around. No idea whether she'll actually do so.
Now, time to get bathed, dressed and out. I have an exam this evening, and I've barely studied thus far. Chris is scolding me for it.
-Mmaster |
|
|
